My new / old Eb tuba adventure.

[Grumpikins]

So I have been wanting to get my hands on a small Eb tuba for a while now. My wife found one browsing a local antique shop facebook page. So we went and looked at it. I was expecting it to be junk, and was surprised. The valves worked good dry and all the slides pulled and were still greased. The horn is relatively decent free aside from one spot on the bottom bow and the main tuning slide is missing. I'm working on it slowly. It's a pre-HNWhite cleveland instruments serial number 67.

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[2nd tenor]

I love these small and simple three valve Eb’s. Yep, other stuff might be better in lots of ways but sometimes it’s just about having something that you can play - a lot of music and fun can be made using such simple instruments - rather than having the best possible Tuba. It’s the player factor and I see it so often, a skilled player makes all the difference .

I’m wondering how you’ll sort out the problems on the instrument and so on, and am really looking forward to the updates.

[Grumpikins]

The 1st and 3rd valve slides are identical and they fit into the main tuning slide position. So I tooted on the horn without a valve, it had a very warm and colorful sound. I'm really excited.

I took measurements of the slides, maybe someone here has something that will work they will sell me. Otherwise, I'll try hand bending one the old fashioned way.

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[bloke]

IF someone has a box of junk (such as @York-aholic with some Olds O-99 or Reynolds TB-10 valve-slide tubing,

what this person is seeking probably fits snugly INSIDE the INSIDE slide tubing.

I'll try to remember to check, myself.

Ferrules should be able to be cut from O-99/TB-10 inside slide tubes.

[York-aholic]

IF someone has a box of junk (such as @York-aholic with some Olds O-99 or Reynolds TB-10 valve-slide tubing,

I have way less ‘junk’ than you seem to think I do.

The closest I have has an OD of the inner slide of .6335”, definitely not snug in O-99 inner tubing.

Sorry. If I did, I’d have put it in the mail.

[Grumpikins]

Thank you for checking.

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[2nd tenor]

The 1st and 3rd valve slides are identical and they fit into the main tuning slide position. So I tooted on the horn without a valve, it had a very warm and colorful sound. I'm really excited.

I took measurements of the slides, maybe someone here has something that will work they will sell me.

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Thanks for the update.

To my mind that’s all rather good news and I hope that someone comes up with something that either fits or can be made to. Maybe someone will have a spare valve slide that in time can have a water key added to it. Have you a repair man in mind for the dent in the bottom bow and a list of repairmen who might mail you a slide?

My logic might be flawed but doesn’t Bisontuba have a lot of old instruments and as such he might be able to suggest sources of replacement parts - I’m guessing that he’s returned quite a few old Tubas to working order.

[The Big Ben]

That is an interesting instrument. If you can get it playing, it could be a lot of fun. I like the engraving on the bell. You might be surprised how it might look when polished out. The dent in the bottom bow looks like it could be removed easily either with magnetic balls or taking it off the body and using traditional rods and dent balls and maybe rounding rings.

[bloke]

I will look through my 5/8 inch bore junk, assuming I have some.

[Grumpikins]

Right now my goal is to do as much myself as I can. I bought a magnet at hf and will order an .5 and 1.5 gauge balls through work to try. In the mean time I have soaked it with a lime scale and rust solution and power washed it. Got a lot of the crust off. Have been gently tapping on the high spots of the damage. Someone drilled a hole there too. I think it was hung on a wall at some point. I have been using that with a rod to push the dents out from the inside a little. Trying very hard not to make the damage worse. Slow going.

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[bloke]

I think I'm seeing silver plating. If it wasn't for that, that hole could be repaired invisibly and strong. It can be repaired strong and without a patch, but not without melting the silver plating.

[Grumpikins]

Yup. I was planning on a patch. I'm not shooting for a restoration. Just get it cleaned up and functional to start with. Learn some things along the way.

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[Grumpikins]

My job/boss/owners are awesome!

I asked them if they would order some gauge balls for me (that I was going to pay for) to use as dent balls. I explained what I'm doing with them. They proceeded to take me around the shop and find gauge balls in sizes that I can use and said bring them back when your done or keep them. Well buy new if/when we need them.

The one owner comes from a musical family with several relatives being band teachers. The other owner's kids play instruments.

I'm really glad I left the crummy job I had before at a big world class manufacturer for this little shop. They care about their people. The other place treated people like trash.

Anyway. More tools to continue with my project......

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[2nd tenor]

My job/boss/owners are awesome!

I asked them if they would order some gauge balls for me (that I was going to pay for) to use as dent balls. I explained what I'm doing with them. They proceeded to take me around the shop and find gauge balls in sizes that I can use and said bring them back when your done or keep them. Well buy new if/when we need them.

The one owner comes from a musical family with several relatives being band teachers. The other owner's kids play instruments.

I'm really glad I left the crummy job I had before at a big world class manufacturer for this little shop. They care about their people. The other place treated people like trash.

Anyway. More tools to continue with my project......

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You’re going to need a powerful magnet and I’m not sure how easy large permanent magnets are to get hold of. Maybe the professionals have considered this already but I’m wondering if an electromagnet (relatively easy to get hold of) might work for you. Just a thought.

What a great employer.

Beware that not all steel is magnetic, almost all is though.

[Grumpikins]

I've made good progress with the smashed bow. Without dent balls as I have not found a strong enough magnet. I've learned a lot about working on them with a hammer gently tapping. Today I soldered one of the holes up. I actually had some 50/50 silver solder on hand. Have to clean it up and see if it holds. Not ready for new pictures yet. I also have a line on a junk tuba for parts too. Fingers crossed that I can get a hold of it and the tubing is close enough to work with. I also experimented with plating an old mouthpiece with moderate success. I just didn't have enough plating material to cover the whole thing. But it worked otherwise. I'm very happy so far. This is fun.

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[2nd tenor]

I've made good progress with the smashed bow. Without dent balls as I have not found a strong enough magnet. I've learned a lot about working on them with a hammer gently tapping. Today I soldered one of the holes up. I actually had some 50/50 silver solder on hand. Have to clean it up and see if it holds. Not ready for new pictures yet. I also have a line on a junk tuba for parts too. Fingers crossed that I can get a hold of it and the tubing is close enough to work with.

Thanks for the update . I’m finding it all really interesting and am hoping for more details of progress and how you managed the repairs, etc.

[Grumpikins]

Details, ok. Someone had drilled a hole through both sides of the bottom bow where it was crushed. So I went out back and found a downed tree branch with a bend that was similar to the bend in the bow. I sanded it smooth all around and screwed an eye in it for a string. From work, I got a 1/4 inch stainless rod, rounded and polished the edges of the ends. Slid the wood piece into place and using the rod through the holes, hammered as much of the dents out as I could. I kept working back and forth both sides of the bow inside and out. It's not pretty but it's no longer crushed. As for soldering the holes, I worked as a welder for 8 years and working the materials is similar. Get it hot, but not burn through, build up material around the edges and slowly work it over making the hole smaller and closing up..

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[Grumpikins]

Front

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[Grumpikins]

Back

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[Grumpikins]

Still a lot of work to do. Goal is to get it playable and cleaned up. Right now this is a tight budget project. If I really love it, down the road I'll have a pro do some dent work on it.

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